


Once Upon a Time: Arrow of the Vanguard

by tklivory



Series: Fractured Thedas Tales [7]
Category: Dragon Age
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-12-09
Updated: 2011-12-09
Packaged: 2017-10-27 02:49:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,167
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/290837
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tklivory/pseuds/tklivory
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It is the duty of the Tammassran to ensure that all the young are educated in the matters of the Qun and the history of the Qunari.  Hear, then, the tale of Sten of the Beresaad.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Once Upon a Time: Arrow of the Vanguard

**Author's Note:**

> I envision the Qunari as formal, ritualistic, and abstract in thought, as the Qun is more a way of life than a religion. They instinctively understand metaphor and parable in a way that has to be taught in other cultures, and as a result become attached to "the way things are" rather than "the way things might be". One of the driving principles of the Qun is asit tal-eb, "The way things are meant to be" and I tried to reflect that in the story.
> 
> Since this story is recorded in the history of the Qunari, I utilized metaphor to describe the people within the story. Thus, Sten is referred to as 'an arrow of the vanguard', and the Arishok is the 'Body of the Qunari'. The Grey Warden is referred to as the 'bow' since she ends up using Sten to fight the Darkspawn. Also, remember that Sten is his title, not his name, so that Sten of the Beresaad actually means "Commander of the Vanguard."
> 
> I have included a glossary of terms and phrases at the end of the story. This story is, like the one for Dog, from the perspective of one who has very different thought patterns than anyone else in the game.

_As it always has been, so it always shall be._

 _Those who journey from the lands of the Qunari and into the lands of the heathen shall, upon their return, recount their_ tarikh _to the_ Tamassrans _so that all of the Qunari may be enlightened. As we are enlightened, so may we be strengthened, and as we are strengthened, so may we instruct the heathen in the way of the_ Qun _. Thus decrees the Arishok, the Arigena, and the Ariqun: that the_ Tarikh _of the Qunari endure, and that the_ Qun _be taught to those in need._

 _As it always has been, so it always shall be._

 _This, then, is the_ tarikh _of Sten of the Beresaad._

 _.~^~.  
_

 _In a time that came before,_ the Soul of the Qunari perceived that the Darkness foretold in the _Tarikh_ of our Lands From Before rose far to the south of Par Vollen. Thus the Soul consulted with the Mind and the Body of the Qunari, and the Body sent forth a flight of arrows from the vanguard to journey to the distant realm known as Fereldan and return with the _tarikh_ and knowledge of the Darkness.

In the distant realm of Fereldan, the arrows of the vanguard found themselves surrounded on all sides by that which would be inconceivable among the Qunari: women who were warriors, merchants who dreamed of titles, nobles who collected wealth, mages who coveted freedom, and warriors who longed for passivity. Even as the arrows of the vanguard struggled to reconcile these notions, they searched for the answer to that question which had sent them aloft to land in the confusing quagmire that was Fereldan.

It was while the arrows of the vanguard lay resting by the shores of the Lake surrounding the Tower which restrained the wildfire of magic that the Darkness rose from the very ground around them, overwhelming the arrows of the vanguard in an assault as craven as it was effective. Though the arrows of the vanguard pierced much of the Darkness in the battle that followed and broke the Darkness that threatened to overwhelm them, many were the broken shafts of the arrows of the vanguard following the battle.

Of all the arrows of the vanguard sent forth by the Body of the Qunari, one remained whole, though the fletching was torn and the head scarred and warped. So it was that Sten of the Beresaad succumbed to the Darkness and lay as one dead upon the battlefield.

When he emerged from the little death, he found that he was yet as one dead, for his soul, his _Asala_ , was gone from his side. In his soulless state, the arrow of the vanguard acted without honor and slew the heathen that had taken him from the battlefield, slaughtering all of them without calculation or hatred. He then waited calmly as those who served justice in the realm of Fereldan took him, declared him broken and corrupt, and placed him in a physical prison that was but a weak reflection of the cage into which he had already placed himself.

The arrow of the vanguard thus reflected upon his actions, seeking the wisdom of the Qun in his contemplation: _Shok ebasit hissra. Meraad astaarit, meraad itwasit, aban aqun. Maraas shokra. Anaan esaam Qun._ "Struggle is an illusion. The tide rises, the tide falls, but the sea is changeless. There is nothing to struggle against. Victory is in the Qun."

When meditation failed or proved too difficult to achieve, he maintained his discipline by observing that which was around him. It was during this time that the arrow of the vanguard noted that the language of this distant realm of Fereldan contained far too many words that began with the letter G.

After several weeks of waiting for _kata_ to finally claim him, another came in its stead, one who also sought knowledge of the Darkness and its end. This seeming _imekari_ approached the lone arrow of the vanguard and tore down the cage which he had built about himself with a simple challenge, a challenge worthy of the Qunari: to restore the honor that was lost. Though he knew not how this would be accomplished, he accepted the challenge, and allowed himself to become an arrow in the quiver of the seeming _imekari_ , the one who called herself a Grey Warden.

Thus did the arrow place itself within a new bow, though it was his faith in the Qun and a _sit tal-eb_ that upheld him in the times that followed. In the seeming _imekari_ , the bow which launched him towards his enemies and against the Darkness, he perceived many of the inconceivable notions that he had encountered previously in Fereldan. Here was one who did not know the Qun, who did not accept _asit tal-eb_ , who fought skillfully despite being a woman, who fought not because she was born to it but because she chose to. Slowly and painfully, he learned that perhaps inconceivable did not mean what he thought it meant.

More than once, the arrow rebelled against the bow and sought to become the bow itself, but each time the bow proved obdurate in purpose and relentless in strength, and the arrow of the vanguard finally submitted fully to the seeming _imekari._ As the arrow of the vanguard placed himself completely under her command, the bow performed many seemingly inexplicable actions, traveling without apparent reason or intelligence, and yet always somehow moving them closer to the goal of defeating the Darkness.

And then the bow, the seeming _imekari,_ proved that she was no mere _imekari_ after all. In the far distant hamlet of Redcliffe Village, a town of admittedly little import on the southern shores of Lake Caledhan, the seeming _imekari_ displayed the discernment and sense of purpose reserved for the _ashkaari_ and found that which had been lost: _Asala_.

In wonderment, the arrow of the vanguard held his soul close to him, feeling once again worthy to be Qunari, worthy to be Sten of the Beresaad, worthy to walk the shores of Seheron. He perceived that he could now make his return flight to the Body of the Qunari and give them the _tarikh_ of the Darkness and provide the answer to the question for which he had gone into the wilds of Fereldan and been forced to endure so much that was alien and _wrong_.

Or he could remain in Fereldan, amongst the smell of dogs and rotting garbage, and completely restore his honor at the side of the only heathen he would ever consider worthy of respect.

And thus the arrow of the vanguard remained for a while longer cocked in the bow of his newfound _kadan_ , certain in the knowledge that whether the battle against the Darkness ended in _kata_ or _ataash_ , he would serve the Qun and surrender to _asit tal-eb_. For, as the _Tarikh_ teaches, _ataash varin kata_.

And along the way, there would be cookies, and, he was told, cake.

 

The End

**Author's Note:**

> bonus cookies for anyone who caught the Princess Bride reference. :)
> 
>  
> 
> Arigena – crafts leader (the 'Mind' of the Qunari)
> 
> Ariqun – head priest(ess) (the 'Soul' of the Qunari)
> 
> Arishok – war leader (the 'Body' of the Qunari)
> 
> Ashkaari – One who seeks: scientists, philosophers, or those who seek knowledge
> 
> Asit tal-eb – The way things are meant to be
> 
> Ataash – glory
> 
> Ataash varin kata – In the end lies glory
> 
> Imekari – child
> 
> Kata – the end, death
> 
> Lands From Before – the lands from which the Qunari came (they came to Thedas from across the ocean 300 years before the Fifth Blight)
> 
> Sten of the Beresaad - Commander of the Vanguard
> 
> Tammassrans – those Qunari who are in charge of education among the Qunari
> 
> tarikh – history (to the Qunari, history and 'tale' and 'story' all have the same importance and intonation, unlike English) Also, lower-case tarikh is a small story, and upper-case Tarikh refers to the Absolute Truth of the Qunari


End file.
